Lubricating apparatus



Jan 6, 1931. F. WILKES LUBRIGATING APPARATUS Filed May 9, 1929 INVENTOR My invei'ition' relates to lubricatingapps- .ratns,and' moreparticularly to apparatus Patented Jan 6-, 1931 v geamz IiUB RfCATIhTG APPA IEKTI Is" Application filed May 9,

'1 that is suitable fo'rluhricating shalt bearings.

means for supplying lubricant to a shaft bearing atl'a rate of flew which Var iesin. a'c cordan'c'e with the rate of movement of the shaft and whiehfio'w will be increased in case the bearing becomes heated.

' Another object OI my mvent'ion'is to'pro installation embodying my invention; Fig;

2 is a View, onan enlarged scaleypartial ly in sectiomof a portion of the apparatusof Fig; 1; Fig. is'anend elevational view-of the apparatus of Fig. 2', and Fig. 4 shows means whereby a desired setting of the in: hi'i'ca'nt'supp ly'nozzle may be readily efi'e'cted in installing-theapparatus. I

' The apparatus may conveniently be m stiilledifisd 1' ma' nerfthat a plurality of hearings will be luhric'ated from a'common sourceof-luhrieant supply, thus avoiding the necessity of proyiding an oil ciiip' at each hearing; with consequent sav ng in material and labor, since the attendhn'ti need only li'iaintai" a suilic'ient'quantity of lubricant in the reservoir or other source of supply, instfli djo'f" attending toeaeh bearing individually.

have shoiir'n'the apparatus as employed incoiineetion With only two hear ngs, it will he-understood that it may be supplied to any niimher of bearing 'sjand suchhearing's need not necessarily located in a gi 'iei'iplzine, but may he distributed over Va- One object of my invention is to provide 19259; serial m; gems-5Q I lions-parts of. a machine and even extend to a pluralityofgmaehines, since flow of lubriv (21bit at each-hearingis automatically con trolled at such bearing.

The-apparatus 'is'sho'wn as applied to two bearings 7 ofa shaft 9. These bearings are of somewhat the usualform except instead of beinggprovidedindividually with oil cups are SllPPllGdNVltlI lubricant from a common reservoir 10. This reservoir may be simply a chemberof suitable capacity having an outlet 12 towhich the supply line 13 is connected, or, itmay be of special construction su'e'hastha t shown in my Patent No. 1,579,586

of April 6,1926;

T-eonneetlons 14 are provided in thesupply line' 13' 'for diverting oilto thebearings 7. A nipple 15' is'connected to each T 14 and has screw-threaded engagement with its as- I sociatecl hearing; 7, asshown more clearly in'Fig 2. The discharge end of the nipple red somewhat and supports a corp ly' tapered nozzle 16 that is yield- :ih'iy pressed downifi'ard ly by a spring 17 Whieh interposed between the upper end of the nozzle and the lower endof the T let. A steel ball. 18 is interposed betweenith'e discharge" end ofi the nozzle 16 and the shaft,

such ball being confined Withinv the lubri eating recess ofthe hearing 7 in such manner that whileit-may .rollunder the rotating ae tio'n oft'h'e' shafitit will'not become displaced from theend of the nozzle. The nipple 15 is screwed down such distaneethat the spring 17 will be" slightly compressed and m aintain a yielding force-onthe hall"18.

In assemblin-gthe lubricating nozzle and associatedpertsinthe hearing 7, web-(111 18 is placedinthe' bearing'l, and thenozzle 16 is inserted into the nipple l4; preliminary to screwing 'thenippleinto the hearing. A plug 19"is 'sc rewecl into the nipple 15until its ex tended p'oreeneo hasrig'id engagement with theupper end o'f the nozzle 1-6. Thereupon the nipple 15 isfsc're'wed into place until the onehalf turn or a full turn, depending upon nozzle 16 has been moved downwardly into the viscosity of the lubricating oil which'is to be employed. The nipple is then screwed down until the end of the plug 19,

again abuts against the upper end of the nozzle 16. It will be seen that there will thereby be slightclearance provided between the peripheral surface of the nozzle 16 and the adjacent inner surface of the nipple 15. This clearance'is so small that lubricant will not '7 flow between saldsurfaces whlle the parts re main in such relative positions.

Thereupon, the plug 19 is removed and the spring 17 inserted, and the T 1 1 isthen connected to the-nipple 15. i

\Vith the parts in this positiomlubricant I may flow through the line 13 into the nipple 15, the fit betweensuch nipple and the nozzle 16 being such that no lubricant will flow along the outer surface of the nozzle 16 to .theshaft 9 by reason of the small clearance above-referred to. The ball 18"will likewise prevent flow of lubricant from the discharge end ofthe nozzle 16. r i

However, upon rotation of theshaft 9, the ball 18 will be rotated and lubricant will flow in small'quantities from the discharge end of the nozzle 16 and past the ball 18. Upon rapid rotation of the shaft 9, the flow of lubricant will of course be automatically increased and at high speeds wherethere is perceptible whipping of the shaft, lubricant will not onlyrbe suppliedmore rapidly from within the nozzle 16, but the clearance between such nozzle and the adjacent wall of the nipple 15 will be periodically increased through upward impulses imparted to the nozzle through the ball 18, and additional lubricant will flow down the outer surface of the nozzle 16 to the bearing. Similarly, if the bearing-engaging portion of the shaft 9 becomes w heated, it will cause the nozzle 16 to be moved upward slightly thusstill further increasing the flow of lubricant.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that any desired number of bearings may-be supplied from a given, reservoir or other source of supply, and flow to each bearing will be antomatically controlled in accordance with changes in conditions existing at such bearing, either through changes inspeed of the moving parts or through increase of temperature within the bearing.

I claim as my invention p 1. The combination with a shaft and a recessed bearing therefor, of lubricating apparatus comprising a nipple connected to said bearing, and having an inwardly-tapering inner surface, a nozzle disposed within said nipple and having'a tapering surface co-actingwith the first-named tapermg surface, a member interposed between the inner end of the nozzle and the shaft, and means for yieldably holding said nozzlein engagement. with said member, the clearance between the said tapering surfaces being only sullicient to prevent flow of lubricant therebetween when the parts are at rest, but permitting flow of lubricant upon slight outward movement of the nozzle. I p

2. The combination with a shaft and a bearing therefor, of lubricating apparatus comprising a nipple communicating with bearing surfaces of said shaft and bearing, the inner wall of said nipple tapering in- .wardly toward said bearing surfaces and a nozzle disposed within-said nipple and having a'tapering surfaceco-acting with the first-namedtapermg surface, means for yieldably urging said nozzle toward the said' bearing surfaces, means 'for limiting inward movement of such nozzle to'an extent that suflicient clearness will benormally maintained between said tapering surfaces to prevent flow of lubricant therebetween when the nozzle is in normal position, and means con trolled by movement of the shaft for moving said nozzle outward slightly to permit flow oflubricant between said tapering surfaces.

3. The combination with a shaft and a recessed bearing therefor, of lubricating apparatus comprising an inwardly-tapering valve member extending into said bearing and co-acting with the adjacentwall surface of saidl re'cessto control-flow of lubricant past said tapering surface, means for yieldably holdingsaid member in inwardly projected position, and means engaging saidshaft for limiting inward movement of said member but permitting slight out-ward movements thereof during rotation of the said shaft.

- 4. The combination with a shaft and a recessed bearingtherefor, of lubricating apparatus comprising ,an inwardly-tapering valve member extending into said bearing and co-acting with the adjacent wall surface of said recess to control flow of lubricant past said. tapering surface, means for yieldably holdingsaid member in inwardly projected position, and means engaging said shaft for limiting inward movement of said member but, permitting slight outward movements thereofduring rotation of the said shaft, the said means maintaining the tapered surface of the said member inslightly spaced relation to the inner wall of said recess when the member is at its innermost position.

5. Lubricating apparatus for a shaft, comprising a bearing having a lubricating recess, a nipple connected to said bearing and having a nozzle-seating surface, a source of supply for directing lubrication to the outer end of saidnipple, a'nozzle loosely disposed within t-lle'jllpplfi and extending into said recess. a ball interposed between the inner end of the nozzle and the shaft, and means for yieldably holdingsaid nozzle against said ball, the nozzle being inwardly tapered at points op osite to said surface, and the ball normally ho ding the tapered portion of the nozzle out of engagement With the seating surface and serving to move the nozzleoutward a slight distance further during rotation of the shaft, to thereby control flow of lubricant past said surface.

Intestimony whereof I, the said FREDERIC v 0 1mins, have hereunto set my hand.

' FREDERIO WILKES. 

